Burrito Chain Continues Serves More Naturally Raised Meat than Any Other National Restaurant Company

DENVER (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG), the national chain of burrito restaurants, announced today that all of the beef it uses in its barbacoa, a spicy shredded beef, is now naturally raised, bringing its total of naturally raised beef to nearly 23 million pounds, including both steak and barbacoa. The move solidifies Chipotle as the largest restaurant seller of naturally raised meat and underscores its commitment to serving "Food with Integrity."

In all, Chipotle expects to serve more than 75 million pounds of naturally raised meat in 2010, including all of its pork, more than 80% of its chicken, and 85% of its beef. All of its naturally raised meat comes from animals that are raised in a humane way, never given antibiotics or added hormones, and fed a pure vegetarian diet.

"When we started serving pork from naturally raised pigs more than a decade ago, we did it because we thought it was a better way to raise animals and it produced better tasting food," said Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle. "That gave rise to our commitment to find better, more sustainable sources for all of the ingredients we use. We call this commitment 'Food with Integrity' and it is one of the ways we are changing the way people think about and eat fast food."

Beyond serving naturally raised meat, Chipotle is also the only national restaurant company with significant commitments to serving local and organically grown produce, and was the first national restaurant company to serve dairy products (cheese and sour cream) made with milk from cows that are not treated with the synthetic hormone rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone).

In addition to influencing the food system and creating new opportunities for farmers and suppliers, Ells says "Food with Integrity" is helping to build awareness and increase demand for sustainably raised foods among customers.

"We are teaching our customers about the tastes and benefits of eating fresh, naturally raised foods, and the more they come to appreciate that, the more they are going to want them from others," said Ells. "It is certainly challenging to find better ingredients from more sustainable sources, but we believe it's the right thing to do and will continue to lead the industry in serving food made with these better ingredients."

Chipotle had been serving naturally raised chicken in all of its restaurants but can no longer get enough chicken to meet its growing demand. The company hopes to be back to 100% naturally raised chicken by the end of the year.

About Chipotle

Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO, started Chipotle with the idea that food served fast did not have to be a typical fast food experience. Today, Chipotle continues to offer a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls (a burrito without the tortilla) and salads made from fresh, high-quality raw ingredients, prepared using classic cooking methods and served in a distinctive atmosphere. Through our vision of Food with Integrity, Chipotle is seeking better food not only from using fresh ingredients, but ingredients that are sustainably grown and naturally raised with respect for the animals, the land, and the farmers who produce the food. Chipotle opened its first restaurant in 1993 and currently operates nearly 1,000 restaurants.

SOURCE: Chipotle Mexican Grill

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Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle continues to offer a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls and salads made from fresh, high-quality raw ingredients, prepared using classic cooking methods and served in a distinctive atmosphere.

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